‘Chucky’ Gruden a perfect fit for the Raiders, and their quarterback

I never got to see the Chucky movies when I was a kid – my mom and dad wouldn’t let me watch them, which is probably a good thing.

Jon Gruden can be pretty scary, too. He definitely earned that nickname. But he is the perfect coach for the Raiders and for Derek Carr – and that has been clear ever since he went out to Gruden’s camp when he was coming out of Fresno State. I had told Derek a little of what to expect because I had played against Gruden and I had a chance to talk to him before games. When Derek got there, it was exactly what he expected – Gruden is a guy who demands a lot, wants to work.

Derek loved it because he found coach who would push himself as hard as he wanted to be pushed, and maybe more.

He threw the ball really well – broke a couple of Gruden’s cameras – and Gruden thought he should have been the first pick in the draft. He was really the only guy I heard say that throughout the whole process.

I remember Derek coming back and saying, “That’s a coach I’d love to play for.” The guy is phenomenal, great energy, very detail oriented, and if you tell Derek what to do and what you expect from him, you’re going to get that 100 percent. You just have to be clear, and Gruden has never had a problem with mixing up what he’s saying. Nothing is going to be lost in translation. He’s going to be very clear and direct in what he wants from his quarterback, and I think you have the best quarterback/head coach combination that you could possibly find right now.

The timing of it, though not great for Jack Del Rio and everyone, it’s something that had to happen just for the overall morale of the team.

Just being around Derek and some of the other players after the season, they were very upset. Obviously, the fans were upset. But these guys live this every day and it’s a drain to go through a season like that where you underperform and you don’t put out your best, especially when you know you have the talent because you did it last year with pretty much the same guys and even added a couple of pieces.

I think hiring Gruden and bringing in a guy who will command respect in the locker room instantly was important. He has been there. He has won a Super Bowl. There’s instant credibility when he walks into that first team meeting.

He’s going to push them hard. But in talking with Derek after the season – he came down to Bakersfield and hung out for a couple of days and we chatted about a lot of stuff – the biggest thing that I got from him was the attention to detail just was not there.

As the quarterback you can only do so much – you can demand from guys. But there was almost a culture of taking turns, and by taking turns I mean everybody has to be on the same page on every play for an offense to really roll. When you’re not on the same page and guys are missing assignments, not sure where to line up, running the wrong routes, that’s not acceptable. That’s not how you win football games. Listening to all of Gruden’s ex-players, watching his offense work, playing against him, if a route is supposed to be run at 12 yards it’s going to be run at 12 yards or they’re going to find someone else to run it. I think that’s something that’s desperately needed in Oakland.

Then, his offensive coordinator is coming from a team that pushed the envelope as far as moving guys around, creating offense for the quarterback. Greg Olson was the Rams’ quarterbacks coach and they were the No. 1 offense in the league with their run-pass options – it was almost 30 percent of what Jared Goff did.

With what you have with the Raiders and their offensive line, it’s a natural fit. The play-action pass game has to come back. The shots down the field have to come back.

I think that will be a cool marriage between what Olson has done the last couple of years and what Gruden has done in the past.

Even with all that, just the fact that Gruden is back is great for football and in particular the Raiders. Can you think of a guy better suited to be on that sideline other than John Madden? Gruden’s facial expressions, his energy, his toughness – that’s the thing that stands out to me. It’s perfect for that whole aura behind the Silver and Black, and what they’ve tried to establish.

That’s what Al Davis always wanted, to be an intimidating football team, and when you have a head coach who is as fiery and in your face as Gruden, that’s a good start.

Question of the week

From Jack Oberti: When an NFL team practices during the season, is there an unwritten rule that contact is at a minimum? And, if so, how does a second- or third-string player prove himself on the practice field by not going all-out to show his talent?

The contact in practice, it has really changed a lot. But going through a week, it’s Monday and Tuesday when young players can show they belong on the field because coaching staffs want to see a guy who really knows his stuff and is willing to put in the work. Monday and Tuesday, even though it’s pretty much a half day and an off day, if guys are in there and they’re working hard watching film and showing coaches that they’re preparing, that’s the first step to finding their way onto the field.

Then that scout team look, that’s where guys start to make plays and where they start to stand out. If you’re out there and you’re making some plays on your offense or on you’re defense and you have some energy going, that’s how you get your coach’s attention. It’s hard because there’s no contact, so you’re not really going to get the physical play. It’s more skill-type stuff, being in the right spot, disrupting what the offense or the defense is trying to do for the week and that gives them a better look.

When I was in New York, that’s what I loved to do – I was going to go out there and try to rip them up and give them the best look I could so Sunday is as easy as possible.

I remember when Bear Pascoe first came to New York. I threw him every pass I could throw him the first couple of days of practice. I told him, “I’m going to feed you the ball. You’re going to be a guy that gets on the field.” Before the season was up, he was out there and making plays. The year we won the Super Bowl, he was really the only tight end we had because Travis Beckum got hurt, Kevin Boss got hurt.

He found his way on the field through scout team and from one of his buddies having some confidence in him and throwing him the ball. Victor Cruz, when he was on the scout team, same thing. He was out there making crazy plays. That was mostly in the spring, but he carried it into the preseason and the rest of history.

David Carr is a former Fresno State quarterback, NFL No. 1 draft pick and Super Bowl champion. Now he’s an analyst for the NFL Network and writing a weekly column in collaboration with The Bee’s Robert Kuwada. The column is sponsored by Valley Children’s Hospital.

This story was originally published January 10, 2018 at 3:52 PM with the headline "‘Chucky’ Gruden a perfect fit for the Raiders, and their quarterback."